Age Detection Via Facial Analysis (and a Camera) – Aldi & C-Stores in UK No-Checkout

age verification alcohol

A couple of developments in Age Verify using Facial Analysis and specifically Yoti platform. All in the UK.  NCR involved. From Prolific North Feb 3, 2022

UK Home Office Approves trial of age verification for sale of alcohol in shops.

In Brief

  • Will run alongside human checks, the tech will be used to help retailers stop selling alcohol to anyone underage.
  • ICU age verification technology by Innovative
  • Convenience stores test pilots
  • Age estimation via facial — According to tests by the Age Check Certification Service (ACCS) it underestimates age by only 0.19 years.
  • Staff consequences — British Retail Consortium has seen a 76% rise in abuse to staff during the pandemic, citing identity checks as a trigger point.

Excerpt

“We are delighted to be accepted into the UK Government Sandbox scheme and see all our hard work undertaken over the past few months come to fruition,” explained Dr. Andrew O’Brien, ICU Product Manager.

“Our team have liaised with local licensing authorities, local police officers and local councils to ensure our solution (ICU) is both safe, legal and meets the criteria of the scheme. ICU age verification technology will now be piloted in several convenience stores in the Northwest of England, and we will closely monitor our test sites to ensure we support the retailers’ and collate the relevant data throughout the trial.”

From Inews January 18, 2022

Aldi starts using facial age estimation tech to sell alcohol in new no-checkout supermarket

Yoti Facial Analysis

Yoti Facial Analysis – Click for full size image

German-owned firm becomes first supermarket chain in UK to trial Yoti’s AI device that estimates customers’ ages

In Brief

  • First of several grocery stores that will use this technology. Pretty lengthy article going thru it all.
  • While Yoti would not be drawn on the exact participating retailers, Yoti is partners with NCR, an American company that manufactures self-checkouts used by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, among others.
  • Same platform used by the NHS
  • Customers who do not want to use Aldi’s app will still be able to purchase restricted items with the help of a member of staff.

Excerpt

Facial analysis – which is not the same as facial recognition – is just one of the technologies retailers could adopt more widely to crack down on aggression and abuse directed at human staff, as refusing underage customers alcohol is an often-cited reason for threats and abuse, according to the British Retail Consortium.

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Contactless 3D Lidar Scanner Technology – Lidar in Retail Restaurants – Unmanned Stores

3D Lidar Scanner for Retail Restaurants

Lidar Scanner Primer

Contactless 3D lidar scanning is already moving into restaurants and retail in the United States and Japan. You can see that in the Amazon Grab and Go for example.

One company at the forefront is Hitachi-LG Data Storage from Korea.  They have a Safe Pass product line which covers standalone terminal stations as well as a ceiling mount.

Hitachi Safe Pass Product LIne

Hitachi Safe Pass Product LIne – Click for full size

Features of the Floor Stand, Table Stand and Ceiling Mount

  • People tracking and heat map
  • hand detection
  • queue monitoring
  • density measurement
  • dwell time
  • POE option
  • Plug and Play with Cloud
  • Integrated thermal sensors with AI facial recognition
  • Distance and Frame Rate from 10m/30 fps to 13m/30fps

Typical Locations

  • Restaurant
  • Office
  • Cafe
  • Building Entrance
  • Schools
  • Plant Entrance
  • Convenience Stores
  • Unmanned Stores

Lidar Scanner Video

 

Hitachi Lidar Scanner

Hitachi Lidar Scanner – Click for full size

For More Information

Contact [email protected]

Related Posts

Walmart Goes Interactive and Looks like Lidar

Walmart interactive store

From Digital Signage Blog

Editors Note: we are not sure exactly what technologies are in play here. Lidar is one possibility but then so is RFID and even more simple weight sensors (customers pick up an object and the weight changes triggering explanatory video on screens.

Interactive Stores Walmart

Dave Haynes noted this and it is blogged on Walmart Corporate site

Interactive Store News

Excerpt from Sixteen:Nine

Screens are nothing new to stores; they’ve been everywhere for decades. But despite the fact that most of us peruse the store with smartphones in our pockets, Walmart’s new design features many large, updated screens to offer contextual information.

A new men’s grooming section—which was also an initiative pioneered by Target a few years ago—features a super-wide screen over the top of the aisle. The surprise is that this screen is passively interactive. In other words, when you grab a razor off the shelf, the screen will automatically display customer reviews about that specific razor.

So, what does the next Walmart look like? Big corner displays. QR codes everywhere. And smart screens that know what you’re considering buying. It’s a mix of experiential purchasing (a trait that Walmart’s warehouse-like stores have lacked) and quick mobile app integration (where Walmart has already excelled for a few years now). The idea is that you can touch and feel products, but if you want to see a couch in another color, or even have it delivered to your home instead of buying it at the store, there’s always the app.

From Walmart Corporate

Here is expositional video —

 

Last year, we announced the first phase of our store redesign that was focused on navigation and wayfinding. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we now have close to 1,000 stores renovated with this new design to help customers save time in finding what they need.

In this next phase of our redesign, we’re amplifying the physical, human and digital design elements in our stores to inspire customers and elevate the experience. Physical elements include lighting, space enhancements, dynamic displays and more. Our visual merchandising experts have highlighted exciting brands and created engaging experiences that bring to life the human element. Finally, QR codes and digital screens create opportunities for digital exploration. But making the store more engaging isn’t enough. We have to do all of this in a way that is unique to Walmart.

Robotic Restaurant Launched by Pizza Hut in Israel

robotics restaurant

Pizza Hut launches new robotics-only restaurant in Israel

From The Spoon

Excerpt

This month, Pizza Hut debuted a fully automated robot-powered restaurant.

The ‘restaurant-in-a-box’ is based on technology from Hyper-Robotics, an Israel-based food robotics startup that makes containerized restaurants.

The restaurant is operating out of the parking lot of Drorim Mall, a shopping mall located in the central Israel city of Bnei Dror. The restaurant is fully self-contained, doing everything from dropping toppings to baking and boxing. About the only thing it doesn’t do is make the dough, but according to Hyper its pizza restaurant can hold up to 240 types of dough in different sizes.

Restaurant Automation Articles

Product Test – Raspberry Pi 400

Full review on Thinclient.org

raspberry pi automation

raspberry pi automation

Raspberry was very nice and sent us one of their Raspberry Pi 400 Personal Computer Kits. Featuring a quad-core 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, wireless networking, dual-display output, and 4K video playback, as well as a 40-pin GPIO header, Raspberry Pi 400 is a powerful, easy-to-use computer built into a neat and portable keyboard.  Available on Amazon for $99 (just add a monitor).

We unboxed it and set it up in 10 minutes

  • plugged in mouse
  • hooked up internet
  • plugged in HDMI to the 32″ monitor
  • connected power

We ran two sets of tests.  The first was just 10 minutes of “typical usage” to see if any “slowness”.  The kind of lag you might experience with one of the old Celeron or J1900 (or lord forbid an Atom) compared to the typical Windows i5 desktop with Intel graphics.

  • Typical baseline for us is a Linux laptop with 4Ghz i7-8750H with Intel 630. 16GB RAM. (We recommend System76!)
  • Typical monitor is BenQ EW3270L.
  • The linux desktop ran at 1920 resolution.
  • The Raspberry PI ran at 2560 just to make it tougher

Outcome: Couldn’t tell the difference…No discernible difference browsing, viewing big images or playing multiple videos on Vimeo.

Second test we used Loadninja. The usual graphics performance tests historically started with Norton SI way back when and progressed to a Windows (or Android these days) download app. That works for local performance benchmarks but not really for a thin client (given consistent network connection). We didn’t test over WiFi (yet) but we will see if 5Ghz supported and test it later.

For this test you record a macro and then play it back. We used kioskindustry.org (a very fast site at 400ms) and did a typical 6 screen navigation scrolling and clicking. We’ll speak with the Loadninja people next week to get their recommendations.  You also select the number of Virtual Users and we took the default 10.

Kitchen Robotics in Restaurants – Need a Dishwasher?

robotic dishwasher

Rise of the Kitchen Robots: Catering Robot Pioneer – Sawanobori Tetsuya

Very nice documentary on kitchen robotics

In recent years, tough working conditions for often-modest pay have brought serious staff shortages for Japan’s food service sector, which faces annual staff turnover of almost 30%. Sawanobori Tetsuya runs a groundbreaking business working to address this issue with cutting-edge yet affordable robots designed to lighten workers’ load by taking care of food preparation, hygiene and even customer service. Follow a unique enterprise using robotics to revolutionize Japan’s catering sector.

Here is the video 

 

Very nice writeup on the video on Medium how Japan tackles labor shortage

Excerpts

Japan is the leading force in the robotics market

Japanese industrial robot manufacturers accounted for over 56% of the global supply in 2017. Plus 90% of all electrical and mechanical robotic parts come from Japanese suppliers.

Overview of restaurant robots in Japan

Some Japanese startups are trying to bring robot technology into the hospitality and restaurant industry:

 

From The Spoon 2022

Five Food Robotics Predictions for 2022

  • If there’s an area of dine-in restaurants impacted most by COVID, it’s the front of house. High turnover, social distancing and masking requirements have all put significant stress on staff who interface with consumers.
  • Get ready for the restaurant in-a-box. There are a number of startups with robo-restaurant concepts already in fully operational pilot tests who are looking to expand with multiple self-contained robot restaurants in 2022.
  • One could argue that – at least for a while – that Zume hit unicorn status as it hauled in wheelbarrows of Softbank cash for its robot meets pizza delivery concept. However, the company eventually hit troubled waters and has since pivoted to sustainable packaging.
  • One of the biggest challenges for rolling out automation tech in high-volume restaurants is how to begin the process of integrating a new robot into a kitchen. Established restaurants have their workflows and processes, which means an operator can’t just drop a robot into a kitchen and expect to see instant results.

Read the full article

From The Spoon in 2019

We knew Dishcraft was working on a dishwashing robot, but until today, we didn’t know what it would look like. The company publicly unveiled its robot and I’ll be honest, it’s not what I was expecting.

Meant for high-volume eateries like cafeterias, there are two parts to the Dishcraft system. First, dirty dishes are dropped off and stacked vertically on a special cart. Once full, a human wheels the cart into the machine, which grabs each dish individually and inserts it into a rotating wheel. The wheel spins the dirty plate face down and into position where it’s sprayed with water and scrubbed clean in seconds. The scrubbed plate is then rotated again where cameras and computer vision software inspect it for any debris left on the plate before exiting the machine into a dishrack or going back in for another scrub. Check out this video of it in action:

Automated Retail Innovator Invenda Raises $7.5M – Smart Vending

smart vending and smart kiosks

Smart Vending and Smart Kiosks

The Swiss company transforming mechanical vending machines and kiosks into smart IoT-devices with patented touchless technology, AI-powered engagement and crypto-payments, builds on large new U.S. orders.

Invenda makes crypto-capable, touchless, IoT/AI vending machines and kiosks. They just raised $7.5M — with Swiss retail heavies like Walter Huber and Phillipe Gaydoul leading. We’ll post the news Friday 1/14 at 7:15 AM ET

Invennda has machines in 14 countries, including in the Paris Metro and with Lindt & Sprüngli, and a ton in the U.S. and UK with their biggest client Mars Wrigley, others like Coca Cola, and a bunch just put into Minute Maid Stadium in Houston. The machines have recommendation engines in them that have proven to increase sales significantly, connected management tools, can take crypto currency, be touchless and they also can completely retrofit old machines to reduce waste (which none of their competitors do).

Alpnach, Switzerland (January 14, 2022): Invenda Group AG announced today the close of a 7 million CHF ($7.59M) round and the expansion of its board of directors. Invenda develops smart software and hardware for vending machines, smart kiosks and digital signage,and is active in 14 countries. The news comes after the close of major U.S. deals with long time client Mars Wrigley and with the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park (other major clients include Coca-Cola and Lindt & Sprüngli). The funding round indicates confidence among Invenda’s core investors in both Invenda’s corporate culture, with its commitment to transparency, and the drive to expand global growth.

“Our goal was to collect 3 million francs by the end of 2021, but now the amount is more than double. This confirms we are on the right track with Invenda and that our backers believe in the future of Automated Retail,” says Founder and CEO Jon Brezinski. “We are changing the way customers are engaged, creating smarter ways to manage inventory and maintenance, and using our imaginations to expand the entire industry.”

The round was led by former Emmi CEO and Head of M-Industry at Migros, Walter Huber, and well-known financial specialist Gregor Greber, who both bring valuable experience in food and retail and will join Invenda’s board. Philippe Gaydoul of the Gaydoul Group and former CEO of Denner also participated in the financing round which will fund growth in sales and development.

The investors praised Invenda’s commitment to European quality management and disclosure of all figures and strategy considerations. “I am fully convinced of Invenda’s technical approach and look forward to seeing the highly qualified and dynamic team grow and achieve great things,” said Walter Huber.

In addition to major orders, 2021 also saw the installation of Invenda’s first outdoor machines; continued innovations in its patented A-Z touchless transaction technology, gamification and crypto capabilities; and the move into new, larger headquarters in Alpanch, Obwalden.

“Here in the heart of Switzerland, we now have enough room to present our products,” said Brezinski. “Invenda’s AI promotions, our massive touch screens, and all of our other innovations can be used. Clients can experience the way we’ve moved this machine-age field into the 21st Century.”

For more information contact [email protected]

About Invenda Group AG

Invenda Group AG was founded in 2017 by CEO Jon Brezinski and is headquartered in Alpnach, Obwalden. It specializes in the development of software and hardware for Automated Retail such as vending machines, kiosks, digital signage as well as complementary sales-promoting marketing concepts and Big Data projects. Thanks to their smart IoT solutions, they enable customers to increase sales by an average of 50 per cent. Advertising, sales, inventory control and logistics become more efficient and cost-effective with Invenda’s software. Invenda sells new vending machines with integrated software solutions or upgrades existing vending machines with their retrofit kit. Their innovative solution has already won the prestigious EVEX Award from the European Vending Association. Their partners include Microsoft, Intel, BLOCKv and other technology companies. Existing customers include Coca-Cola, Mars Wrigley, Lindt & Sprüngli among others. Although Invenda Group AG is active worldwide and has subsidiaries in Serbia, Hong Kong and Sweden, the company is closely linked to the Alpnach location. This is partly thanks to Jon Brezinski’s love of Central Switzerland and regional investors. More info at Invendagroup.com

Contactless Checkout Model

contactless checkout vending

contactless checkout vending

Conversational AI – Coming to Retail Soon…

We don’t know about you but all the talk about conversational AI seems to us, to be mostly talk. There is an irony in that observation.  The Alexa and Google Mini’s, and Pixel Assistants are woefully inadequate at understanding nuance or building any simple suggestions based on repeated tasks.  They change the volume and never remember what we have done a dozen times before. There is no persistence. It’s like carrying variables thru a multi-step web process. You would think they might have some form of cookies so they have some historical context, but they don’t. Still just the other day we saw where Checkers is rolling out AI-assistants.

We can talk with a Rochester, NY accent or an Okie accent or we can talk like we are from Tyler, Texas.  Along with query variations and intent there are also multiple dialects.

From fluencycorp —

There are roughly 30 major dialects in America. Go here if you’d like a see a map of the various regions with an example of what each dialect might sound like. On the East Coast, we have many very small regions, with slightly varying dialects in each one. Just like New England and the East Coast itself, it is more densely populated, with little pockets of immigrants from other countries. For this reason we have Boston Urban, Bonac, New Yorker, Hudson Valley, Pennsylvania German-English, Inland Northern and North Midland, all within about 5 hours driving from each other. Once you start going west, many of the regional dialects will span 3-4 states, with Texas alone having just two: Southwestern and Gulf Southern. The entire West Coast will only encompass three dialects, and these areas are also known for having more of a neutral accent: Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and some Southwestern (just like in Texas).

Google Adwords has expanded its backend and now allows segmenting search based on Intent.  What is it the user hopes to accomplish?

Microsoft Labs just announced Azure AI milestone — New Neural Text-to-Speech models more closely mirror natural speech.

The latest version of the model, Uni-TTSv4, is now shipping into production on a first set of eight voices (shown in the table below). We will continue to roll out the new model architecture to the remaining 110-plus languages and Custom Neural Voice in the coming milestone. Our users will automatically get significantly better-quality TTS through the Azure TTS API, Microsoft Office, and Edge browser. <

More Voice Assist posts

Hotel Door Lock Automation – What’s Next?

hotel door lock automation

What’s coming in hotel door lock automation?  Article from Hotel Management

In Brief

  • digital key platforms can  integrate with a hotel’s existing mobile app or can serve as a standalone solution
  • third option to using and storing digital keys that does not even require the opening of a separate app
  • Other digital service integrations boost adoption
  • temperature control, mobile key applications, guest payment and location tracking so that hotels can provide a premier guest experience

Excerpt

Since the pandemic started, there has been an increased acceleration toward all things digital. Things like digital keys and remote access were nice to have in before times, said Fayyad Sbaihat, president of Onity, but now they are an imperative. “It minimizes the touchpoints that the customer has to have coming into the hotel,” he said. “It’s also lowered the number of tasks that the front desk clerk has to do with the check-in process, which is vital with the staff shortage. Hoteliers are reaching out on how to implement this type of architecture in their properties.”

Other significant lock innovations in 2022 will allow for better interface potential with multiple management systems, such as temperature control, mobile key applications, guest payment and location tracking so that hotels can provide a premier guest experience with fewer staff, said David Ginn, VP of sales, hospitality North America at dormakaba.  “Mobile will play an ever-increasing role in this outcome,” he continued. “Our job is to future-proof door lock technology to meet both identified and future needs of that guest journey.”

The adoption rate is increasing based on anecdotal research, according to Ginn. “Prepandemic, we estimate that 25 to 30 percent of chain loyalty members used mobile keys regularly,” he said. “The pandemic appears to have accelerated this. For properties who have promoted mobile rates, adoption has been 35 to 40 percent.

Orphan Page Summary – Jan 9

automated retail